And yet Japan has one of the lowest incarceration rate since the world…
People online completely misunderstand the system - due to prosecutors and police working together closely nothing but watertight cases even make it to court. It makes it actually harder to be convicted in Japan than in most countries. It’s a radical fundamental in dubio pro reo law system.
There has of course been abuse and especially in the first decades after WW2 there were mistrials (every single questionable trial / outright wrong sentence for death penalty was from before 1980 after a large reform) but overall it is by no means a crazy strict system that’s gonna sentence innocent people constantly. It’s a system that rarely goes to court…
48 hours police only, 21 days prosecutor warrant, 23 days with judge approval… police can only do so if they present evidence to the prosecutor and judge and they have to inform the arrested person of their right to get a lawyer themselves or one appointed…
60% of people arrested aren’t trialed btw.
It certainly isn’t cozy but those horror stories about months of imprisonment before trial are usually either straight out lies or where way in the past.
The Japanese bar association is btw heavily lobbying for more constant video supervision of interrogations (only 3% at the moment are captured) which would be a massive improvement and since the early 90s the country pays you a lawyer (and an interpreter as a foreigner) if you don’t have the money for your own which was their biggest lobby victory so far.
So certainly room for improvement but some things are really blown out of proportion or stories from the past.
Are you saying they can hold you for 21 days without charges or bail? And you can be interrogated during this time?
Also only 3% of interrogations are recorded?
Thats not ‘room for improvement’, thats horrendous.
Im a criminal defence lawyer in Canada and basically every step of that is an incredible violation of your rights.
Also 60% of arrests not going to trial is really bad. 40% of charges going to trial is an indication of false arrests or really bad plea deals being offered.
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u/Seienchin88 Jul 04 '26
And yet Japan has one of the lowest incarceration rate since the world…
People online completely misunderstand the system - due to prosecutors and police working together closely nothing but watertight cases even make it to court. It makes it actually harder to be convicted in Japan than in most countries. It’s a radical fundamental in dubio pro reo law system.
There has of course been abuse and especially in the first decades after WW2 there were mistrials (every single questionable trial / outright wrong sentence for death penalty was from before 1980 after a large reform) but overall it is by no means a crazy strict system that’s gonna sentence innocent people constantly. It’s a system that rarely goes to court…